County leaders give final nod to Tri-County land lease at airport

Council takes less than five minutes to approve Tri-County plan

ANDERSON - County council members took less than five minutes Tuesday night to give final approval to a long-in-the-works lease that allows Tri-County Technical College to use some land at the Anderson Regional Airport for a highway-construction training program.

The land will used by students who are learning to operate heavy equipment used in roadwork. One of the skills students will learn is how to lay asphalt.

The lease allows the college to lease five acres at the airport for five years. It also gives Anderson County the option to tell Tri-County to leave the work site if a business is interested in using the same acreage for an economic-development project.

If that were to happen, interim administrator Rusty Burns has said, the county would make provisions for the college to move its work site "a little farther down the road," but still on the same property.

Council members hope for a "light business and industrial park" near the airport. When the college first asked for land out there more than a year ago, county leaders hesitated — and studied — before they answered.

The county commissioned a $4,000 study then to determine if leasing land to the college was a good idea.

William McCoy of F&S Surveyors, Engineers and Planners prepared the study.

"As development proceeds on the total tract, the instructional buildings for this facility — which would be of an attractive modular construction — could be easily relocated with grading," McCoy said in the study.

"Utilization of experience-oriented training from this alliance," McCoy said, "would be a strong benefit to the county and Tri-County Tech."

College officials have a long-term goal of asking for about 70 more acres at the airport. The land would be used for research facilities. The college did not have a representative speak about the lease Tuesday night.

The lease requires the county and the college to give each other sufficient notice if one of the parties wants to terminate the agreement.

In other business, the Anderson County Council gave Burns the authority to "approve the filing of legal actions" on behalf of the county — as long as those actions are related to collecting debts of $7,500 or less.

County attorney Mike Pitts said the council's resolution gives Burns "limited authority" to approve filings made on behalf of the county in Magistrate Court.

Pitts said the need for that authority arose because the county is trying to collect money from a person who has used services at the airport but has thus far refused to pay.

The resolution approved by the county council does not give Burns the authority to approve any high-dollar lawsuits, Pitts said.

Still, council member Eddie Moore said he wants to know about any small-claims cases that Burns approves going forward.